Sultry Jazz Vocalist
Jane Monheit takes time
out from
touring to speak with Luxury Experience
about
her latest 12-track album, Home, released on the Concord Records
label.
Aptly named Home, the jazz standard album has a
comfortable,
cozy, feel to it, like sharing an evening with a dear friend.

LE

Jane, thank you for taking
time to speak with Luxury Experience about your latest album, entitled
"Home."

What was your inspiration
for Home, featuring such memorable jazz standards as A Shine On Your Shoes (Howard
Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, 1932); There's
A Small Hotel (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, 1936); This is Always (Mack Gordon and
Harry Warren, 1946); Tonight You
Belong to Me (Billy Rose and Lee David, 1926); Look For The Silver Lining (Jerome
Kern and B.G. DeSylva, 1919); I'll
Be Around (Alec Wilder, 1942); Everything
I've Got Belongs To You (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, 1942); The Eagle and Me (Harold Arlen and
E.Y. Harburg, 1944); I Didn't Know
About You/All Too Soon (Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington,
Bob Russell, 1944), Isn't It A
Lovely Day (Irving Berlin, 1935 for the Fred Astaire film, Top Hat); While We Were Young (Alec Wilder,
William Engvick, Morty Palitz, 1943); and the only non-standard, It's Only Smoke (Larry Goldings
and Cliff Goldmacher)?

JANE

After making nine "fancy
schmancy" records, which were great, with big string orchestras, I wanted to
do something different and make a more realistic album with just my band.
Since we cannot produce that big orchestra sound during live performances at
every gig, I wanted to do something more reflective of what we do, and who we
are. Not every album has to be a fantasy album; Home is the
real thing, it is about the people I work with well, my own band and a few
other people that I have known for a long time.

LE

Your talented band includes
Michael Kanan on piano, Neal Miner on bass, and your husband, Rick
Montalbano on drums. How is it working with your husband?

JANE

Everyone always wants me to
say that it is hard, but we love working together. It is great because we do
work and travel together. Even our 2-year old son, Jack, travels with us when
we go on the road.

LE

You grew up on Long Island and now live in Upstate New York. For a couple
that frequently plays in New York
City, as well as internationally, what made you
select to live Upstate New York?

JANE

What attracted us is that
my husband Rick's family lives in Upstate New York. We live in a great house
on a lake, and keep an apartment in New York City. We wanted to raise Jack with
the best of worlds, freedom, as well as culture.

LE

You sing, play the piano,
and the trumpet, and Rick plays the drums, do you perhaps have another future
musician in your house?

JANE

Jack does have his own drum
set, and we play music together every day, so who knows.

LE

Jane, you have been singing
since you were a child. At what age did you know that you wanted to be a
professional singer?

JANE

Honestly, I have no idea,
as I cannot remember a time when I did not want to be a singer. I have always
been a singer; it has defined me my entire life. All of my friends know me as
a singer.

Singing is highly personal,
you leave a part of yourself each time you perform, and give of yourself. I
want music to help people process emotions, to lose the numbness of
everything. I love to make audiences laugh and cry, and feel that a good show
has that catharsis of both.

LE

You have been on
television, and you have sung on movie soundtracks, what is next?

JANE

For now, performing and
going on tour to promote my album. Someday, I would love to do musical
theatre, and be in a Broadway revival of Carousel and play
Cousin Nettie.

LE

Congratulations on your new
album, Home. Thank you for taking time out of your
schedule to chat with Luxury Experience, and good luck on your European and United States
tour.

Read the album review of Jane
Monheit - Home in the Music Scene section.